June 29: Birbhum Trinamul president Anubrata Mondal and Krishnagar MP Tapas Paul today got bail from lower courts in cases of inflammatory speeches, prompting questions from the Opposition on whether the administration helped pave the way for the process.
In both cases, police initiated action only after being prodded by higher authorities - the state election commission in Mondal's case and the high court in the case of Paul. Today too, there was hardly any opposition from the government to their bail.
The Opposition described as "mockery of the system" the ease with which the two got bail. "I don't know why Mondal or Paul had to go through the trouble of even appearing in court," Congress leader Abdul Mannan said.
CPM MP Mohammad Salim and BJP legislator Samik Bhattacharya echoed him.
Mondal today surrendered before the chief judicial magistrate's court in Suri around 11am and was granted bail within five minutes for a surety of Rs 1,000.
Sources said assistant public prosecutor Kuntal Chatterjee told the court he had "nothing" to say to oppose the bail.
In a speech in the run-up to the 2013 panchayat polls, Mondal had exhorted cadres to burn down the houses of dissidents contesting as Independents and bomb the police if they came to the rescue. Three days after the July 17 speech, the father of a dissident was shot dead by suspected Trinamul activists.
Although Mondal had been named in the FIR, his name did not figure in the chargesheet. The police had in their final report included bailable charges against Mondal.
Asked why he surrendered today, the Trinamul leader said: "I could have surrendered any day before July 7. So I decided to surrender before the court today. I have respect for the court."
In Krishnagar, Lok Sabha MP Paul today surrendered in court for his "rape-and-shoot" speech delivered in Nadia's Choumaha last year. Paul entered the court around 10.30am and was granted bail after five hours against two registered surety bonds of Rs 2,500 each.
According to sources, assistant public prosecutor Bireswar Mukherjee only once opposed Paul's bail plea on the grounds that he had incited the mob. After that, he did not speak.
The actor-turned-politician declined to speak to reporters.
The CID had on May 27 accused Paul of criminal intimidation and outraging a woman's modesty with his "rape-and-shoot" speech. The agency's chargesheet, which mentioned mostly bailable charges, followed an eight-month probe on the orders of Calcutta High Court.
Senior high court advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya said: "Everything was premeditated. They were instructed by Nabanna to surrender and assured that their bail pleas would not be opposed."
In sharp contrast, the police in Birbhum's Margram started a suo motu case today against Congress MLA Ashis Marjit for a derogatory remark against the force.
